The Tragic Philadelphia Story

May 16, 1985|The Morning Call

As the enormity of the man-made firestorm that destroyed part of a Philadelphia neighborhood emerges from the ashes of 61 burned-out houses and burned corpses, a question must be asked. Could this human tragedy have been avoided?

The answer is yes. The affirmative answer is based on the successful resolution of similar urban confrontations between anarchists, terrorists and municipal authority, and on common sense.

A bomb launched from a police helicopter Monday afternoon onto the roof of a rowhouse in which radicals had barricaded themselves, set off a blaze that ultimately destroyed property, human spirit and almost certainly some human lives.

Given what Philadelphia authorities knew or suspected about the mental state of the radicals inside the house and the precautions they had taken to maintain a secure house, the decision to drop any explosive device into an area in which authorities believed contained flammable material is all the more bizarre. Moreover, with the advance announcement by Philadelphia firefighters that they would not go into an unsecured area and risk injury or death from gunfire, the decision to drop a bomb that could cause a fire is more puzzling still.

The bomb was dropped less than 12 hours after the siege began - insufficient time for negotiations between city representatives and the radicals to bear fruit. That points to impatience on the part of the city - unfounded because there was no immediate threat to civilian life or property by the members of the radical group holed up inside their self-made fortress.

Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode has said repeatedly that he assumes full responsibility for the failure of what he called a good plan to resolve the impasse. In an effort to head off criticism of the decision to drop the bomb, the mayor called on "Tuesday-morning quarterbacks" to hold their tongues.

Given the consequences of this tragic miscalculation, that is impossible.